Egypt’s fascinating history, interesting culture and breathtaking sights have established it as a famous travel destination. This place attracts tourists from all over the world; however, not all of them leave satisfied.

Travel content creator Grace Cheng is one of them. A few days ago, she released a video explaining why her trip didn’t live up to its expectations.

The woman, who has already been to 36 countries, said that her holiday was mostly ruined by scammers and the widespread hustle culture in general, but she named other reasons too, and mentioned how people can mitigate them.

More info: Instagram | TikTok

Image credits: gracietravels

“Felt so uncomfortable visiting Egypt and I’m going to tell you why.”

“So scamming is a big issue here. And I didn’t really know how big it was as a first timer. At the Great Pyramids of Giza, especially.”

Image credits: gracietravels

“Don’t let anyone take a picture of you, don’t let anyone put anything in your hands. And don’t follow anyone if they have something to show you, because they will demand money from you.”

“So we went with a tour guide, but don’t even feel safe if you’re with one, because ours had a lot of friends in this area.”

Image credits: gracietravels

“They just kept offering us tons and tons of upgrades, like climbing this rock to get a picture with the background.”

“And if you refuse to pay them, it can get kind of scary.”

Image credits: gracietravels

“Everyone says that you need to have a local or tour guide wherever you go. This itself is completely absurd. Because for example, if you are a solo traveler, it kind of defeats the purpose of solo traveling.”

“But then again, I definitely wouldn’t recommend coming to Egypt alone, especially if you’re a woman.”

Image credits: gracietravels

“That being said, though, if you have a good tour guide, they will know what’s real and fake when it comes to scamming, so for that you can trust them, but the hustling culture here is insane.”

“Everywhere we went it was nonstop begging for us to pay for something.”

Image credits: gracietravels

“If I’m being completely honest, I did not feel safe here and being here made me so uncomfortable every day.”

“When it comes to men, they do stare at you – and it’s not even a normal stare. It’s one of those really uncomfortable stares where they’ll never take their eyes off of you.”

Image credits: gracietravels

“I was also really scared of losing our luggage as as well. We had private drivers wherever we went, but whenever we got dropped off at a site and left our bags in the van I was sure I was never going to see them again.”

“That being said, this was my experience being in Egypt and even though the country itself is beautiful, just the people and the environment did not make me feel comfortable at all.”

Cheng’s video has since gone viral

@gracietravels i stayed for a week and everyday was the same 🫠 #egypt #egyptscam #scammers #egypttravels #egypttips #myexperience #traveltip ♬ Chill Vibes – Tollan Kim

And she’s not the first one who brought up these problems

Other travel writers have been talking about scamming in Egypt too. Especially at the pyramids. For example, Nick Hilden said that “throughout the complex, you are constantly—constantly—set upon by still more hostile vendors, still more belligerent scammers.”

What makes matters even worse, according to Hilden, “the general protection of the site is outright worrisome.”

“Tourists are pretty much free to do as they please, so … you’ll frequently encounter stone walls into which scores of people have carved their initials and other messages, even into bas reliefs and etchings of hieroglyphics.”

Hilden believes that the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism needs to take dramatic steps. “The present system—or lack thereof—is absurd. It needs clearly indicated lines and signage, and the removal of scammers and touts from the ticketing area.”

“Onsite vendors and staff need to be properly trained and, ideally, certified,” he continued. “In some cases, it is clear that the staff and even some of the scammers are highly knowledgeable about the complex. With proper training and decent pay, they could be a credit to the experience rather than an onus.”

Despite all the problems, Egypt remains a popular tourist destination

After reaching a record 13 million tourists and earning 13 billion U.S. dollars in 2019, Egypt’s tourism industry was hit hard by the pandemic.

But things are returning to normal. In fact, Egypt has welcomed seven million tourists in the first half of this year, keeping the country on track for its projected 15 million visitors in 2023.

Tourism is a vital part of the Egyptian economy. It makes up about 12 percent of the nation’s GDP and is among the top sources of foreign currency for the Arab world’s most populous nation.

The country has big goals. Egypt envisions attracting roughly 30 million tourists by 2028. The ambitious strategy intends to attract 20 billion dollars of investments, and authorities are planning to increase the hotel capacity in the country from the current 215,000 rooms to 500,000. Hopefully, the problems that Grace Cheng talks about in her video will be addressed as well.

The TikTok has received a lot of different reactions

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